


A Wayhaught Story [momentarily on hold]

by Strawberryhydrafly



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:35:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27193846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strawberryhydrafly/pseuds/Strawberryhydrafly
Summary: Nicole, a police officer freshly out of the academy, was accepted into the Police Department of Banff, exactly where she wanted to go. It just so appeared to be, that her car broke down on the way, causing the redhead to spend the next week in a smaller city ominously called "Purgatory". And then there was the local bartender...
Relationships: Waverly Earp & Nicole Haught, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Kudos: 32





	1. Prologue: On the Road

The car made very unhealthy sounds and then stopped after a last jump towards the destination of the redheaded driver. She cursed, knowing that her good old rusty friend had permanently given up on her. She had known that this would soon be the case, but still had hoped that she would make it to her new employer.

Nicole Rayleigh Haught was a cop, had just graduated from the Las Vegas Police Academy as one of the best and when Banff’s Police Department accepted her application she was as happy as she could be. Until now everything had been alright with the wanna-be car, that her parents gave her for Christmas 12 years ago. It had lived its age and would really need to be replaced, but Nicole didn’t have the money for a new one and just couldn’t leave her rusty friend.

Sighing, she grabbed her phone to see where she was and whether she could find a place with internet access and preferably a telephone.

She soon gave up on trying to get a GPS-signal and climbed out of her car, searching for the map she always took with her, just in case of an emergency. The nearest place with a mark on the map was Purgatory. An ironic name for Canada especially, since it was pretty much freezing once winter decided to start.

According to the map it shouldn’t be far. Nicole took everything she could carry/ needed out of her car, said goodbye and after quickly marking where she had left her old machine, she started making her way to Purgatory. A city that would change her life forever.


	2. 1-Shorty's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my word screwed up the whole text while copying it over, but I kinda fixed it now so... here we go with the first chapter :)

It was a fairly chilly day in Purgatory. Waverly Earp stood behind the bar, serving a few locals and some tourists. Once the day moved towards sunset, only the locals would stay and the activity at Shorty's would either slow down, or get to a huge drinking fest, depending on who was there and who gave out the drinks.

The next person in front of the counter wasn't a customer though. It was Champ, Waverly's long-time boyfriend. They had come together in high school and after Waverly had moved into the flat over Shorty's, Champ basically also lived there, only returning home once in a while. Those where the nights where she could catch a breath and calm down. It was also the time when she did most of her research about her own family, the Earps, and their cursed background. She loved Champ over everything, but just found it way easier to concentrate on the important things when he wasn't around. He just couldn't understand her excitement for the past and lived more in the now. Which of course wasn't bad or anything. They were different. But still together and in love.

Now he was asking for the key of the flat, kissing her as a goodbye. Waverly smiled, waved and then tended to the next guests, greeting them with a smile.

\---

Somehow finding Police offices was also a part of the training when you would start working in one someday, because without even knowing where she was, that was the first building Nicole stumbled over. The Police station was small, compared to the other ones she knew, but it had a cozy feeling to it. Something familiar that she couldn't pinpoint. Her thoughts were interrupted by an officer in khakis. "Good evening Ma'am. What can I do for you?"

"Hi. My car broke down near town. I was wondering whether you had a telephone I could use?"On her way to the smaller town, her phone had shut down. 

"There should be a phone booth next to Shorty's, that's the local bar. I can give you a map of town."Nicole thanked him and took the map, listening as he gave her directions. It wasn't too far, she could make it before dusk.

Her thoughts were already about what she would say to her would-be superior and her body on the way out the door, when she stopped because the officer added something:"We could help you with your car too. If you show us where it is, we can move it here. That'd take until tomorrow though."

That was nice. She took out her map and showed him the location, thanking him for the help and letting him note down her name so that the officer tomorrow would know whom the rusty car belonged to. 

Then she made her way to Shorty's, walking past wooden houses and admiring the landscape. This was the first time she was actually happy that her car broke down. Purgatory, despite its name, was a rather pretty town. The way the sun shone on the roofs of old buildings, the general feeling of ancient legends and mystery that have happened here. She could see why the inhabitants desired to live here. It just seemed peaceful.

Nicole didn't know how far off her assumptions were at this time, but all in all, the heir hadn't turned 27 yet, so she was about right.

Shorty's had a both interior and exterior design every western bar envied. It basically screamed Wild West in every language ever existing. Over its doorframe hung the sign: "Drink where Wyatt Earp did". 'So that's where I ended up', Nicole thought, recognising the name from some TV show or documentary she had watched. He had been a legend. Though some say that he hadn't been the best person. But who was these days?

She scanned her surroundings for a phone booth, weirdly enough none was present. To the left there were two glass panels that looked like it may have someday kept a phone between its two parts, but it must have been gone for a while because now the glass was lonely.With no other option left, Nicole decided to enter Shorty's.

\---

Within the last few hours, the bar had been clearing up. Now, ten minutes after closing time, even Shorty had gone to bed, leaving the kindly offering Waverly the keys and cleaning up to do. She was just sorting in the last few bottles, when the door opened and a tall ginger entered.

"Excuse me? Do you have a phone I could use? I think your phone box outside is broken, or gone."

"Uhm...", Waverly only said, unable to answer because a few factors, one of them being the surprise of someone coming in after closing time – definitely not a local then- and second being the way the ginger looked, but Waverly wasn't aware of that yet. 

She caught herself in time to make it seem like she was thinking and not staring. "I told Shorty we needed to reinstall that. I'll remind him tomorrow. But you don't care about that. Uhm. We have a phone here. You can use that.", Waverly rambled.

The tall one chuckled, aware of the effect she had on the brunette."That would be nice."

There was a pause, until Waverly realised why the stranger still stood there and showed her the way to the phone, which was around the corner. 

As Waverly returned to the bar and took as much time as possible with finishing what she had to do, Nicole dialled the number of the Banff Police department.

A male voice answered: "Banff Police department what can I do for you?"

"Hello. It's Nicole Haught, I was supposed to be a new officer. I'm sure you can find my name in your files."

There was clicking on the other side of the line and then the voice continued:"Yes. Your name is in our register. Why are you calling?"

"My car broke down so I won't be able to come in tomorrow. I don't know how long it'll take until I'm able to arrive in Banff. Probably another week or so."

"Okay." There were mumbled sounds and then it was silent again: "I'll inform the captain. Should I contact you on the contacts you submitted or by this phone number?"

"The ones I told you before, thank you."

"Okay. Good Evening Miss."

"To you too."And with that the other hung up and left Nicole to phone the housekeeper of her new place in Banff to inform her of a new arrival time in a week. 

This call didn't go as well though, informing Nicole of the fact that they wouldn't be able to wait for her and that she would have to search for a new place, even though they were deeply sorry for that.

Meanwhile, Waverly might have eavesdropped a bit. 'So, the ginger was a cop', she thought, not really surprised. It was something about the way she held herself and just in general the energy she radiated.

As the before mentioned person entered the main area of the bar again, Waverly tried to act as if she didn't notice. 

"So, I know it's probably past closing time but can I get something to drink?"The ginger kinda-cop didn't really sound fine , so Waverly nodded, wanting to help her in any way possible."What would you like?"

"A whiskey , if that's possible."

"On its way."Waverly started getting the bottle and taking out a glass, for a second considering to drink something too, but then didn't. First of all, that was unprofessional, and second of all, she wanted to impress that woman. She came back with the bottle and a glass and started pouring the liquid in the glass. That was something she knew by heart by now."I'm gonna guess you're not from here?"

"No, I'm not." She sighed "My car broke down a bit before town. I'm actually headed towards Banff." 

Nicole didn't know why she told the Brunette this. She was normally rather a force of her own, staying by herself, not really confiding in anyone, but here she was, telling a stranger her problems.

"Where abouts?", the other asked, genuinely interested.The cop went though her bag, showing Waverly the map and the dot on it. The Earp raised her eyebrows."You walked all that way? That's far" 

Nicole seemed to remember something and then said:"I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Nicole. Nicole Haught."She held out her hand, waiting for the one behind the bar to take it.Waverly only stared at it, then shook her head slightly and answered:"Waverly Earp."

The handshake was warm and firm. Not pressing, but welcoming. The exchange didn't last long, but the bartender's hands lingered a bit longer that normal until she snapped out of it and took her hand back as if burnt.

What was going on with her, she wondered. Something clearly was wrong.

By now, the glass whisky was empty and Waverly made her way to the tap to get herself some water and after a nod from Nicole also brought her one.

Nicole's eyes lingered a bit on Waverly, then she focused her attention back on her problem: finding a place to stay. She couldn't sleep in her car since the weather by now was freezing and the vehicle was too far away. Maybe she could ask Waverly if she could stay at Shorty's for the night. She would look for a place to stay tomorrow.

"Thanks", she mumbled in the water and gulped it down."Hey, you could..." "Uhm would it be..."Since both started speaking at the same time, there was a small pause until Nicole decided to go first:

"It's kinda late now so I was wondering whether I could stay in Shorty's for tonight. If that's not an option I'll find something else."

"Uh yeah sure. Butyoucouldalsostayinourguestroom."The last sentence was so under her breath and fast, that Nicole had to ask Waverly to repeat what she had said. "I live above Shorty's with my boyfriend, Champ, but you could stay in our guestroom. It's free."

Waverly wasn't sure whether she saw Nicole's face dim a little when she heard the word boyfriend, but she wasn't sure either whether she wanted the stranger she had just met to actually accept her invitation or decline it. She hadn't been this nervous about someone since a very long time.

While Waverly fidgeted nervously, Nicole wasn't sure what to say. This girl, who she had never met before had offered her a bed without knowing her at all. It was nice, but she didn't want to bother her. On the other hand, a bed, or couch, was better than the banks in the bar, so she accepted the offer.


	3. New Things

The next day started as early as usual for Waverly. She woke up, got out of bed, changed into her normal clothes and made breakfast for herself and Champ. Then she went downstairs to unlock Shorty's and give the official keys back in the wardrobe. Then she got the bar ready for work.

Meanwhile, Nicole woke up. It was 7 am. Nothing too late but certainly not her normal wake up time. She had recharged her phone over the night and after a short confused second, she got ready and decided to go downstairs, not wanting to use Waverly's friendliness by stealing her food out of the fridge. She would get something on her way to the Police Station.

Fully changed and after silently packing her stuff again to not wake up the Brunette's boyfriend, she made her way down the stairs, the first thing awaiting her was a fully soaked Waverly.

"I didn't know Shorty's had wet t-shirt competitions." The sentence just formed itself in her mouth. Like it didn't really belong in this scene. Like this all had already happened somewhere else. She snapped out of it.

"Well if it did, I would win. I'm sorry. Shorty really needs to fix these too .",Waverly pointed at the beer dispensers."Uhm, sorry, could you just quickly...", the brunette gestured something that could be interpreted as turning around. 

Nicole did, wonder-ing whether this start of the day would be a good or bad sign. A ripping sound was audible and then Waverly, sounding like she lost a battle, asked: "Uhm, Nicole, can I call you Nicole, I don't know, but uhm, could you help me with the shirt. I'm stuck."

The ginger turned, making her way behind the bar and helped the caught bird out of its trap.

Waverly certainly hadn't felt so helpless in a long time. Not only did her mind fail her in providing her with full sentences, but she also couldn't free herself from this stupid t-shirt. So why did she feel kind of happy that Nicole was so close?

Once actually free, she blushed and quickly added to the awkward silence : "Good that you're not some dude, right? That would have been reeaallyyy awkward."

Nicole only chuckled. "Yeah. Sure."Waverly lost herself in the eyes of the taller lady, then she heard steps. 

"If you can't find a place to stay, you can crash here again, you know.",The offer stood, unable to be taken back, but did anyone really object to that?

Nicole smiled. She wanted to say yes to that, but didn't t know how. "I'll see you in the evening then?" She settled with that. That sounded great.

"Okay. Good luck." Waverly watched Nicole exit Shorty's, unsure what to take away from this experience. She would need to think.

"There's my baby. What are you doing half naked in the main area? Come here."His arms comforted her, but it didn't have the same ring to it as before. 

\---

'Well, that certainly was something', Nicole thought while exiting. Not only was she trapped in a place called purgatory, but she was also caught by the local bar lady. Well, that would be an interesting week.

She made her way through the streets towards the station, taking in the sunrise despite the freezing temperatures. Canada was cold, that was the first thing that had struck her about her new home. Though Banff should be less cold because of so many people crammed in one place , but still. It was cold.

In the light of the day, Purgatory did look even less like its literal meaning, being filled with laughing people, rather old than young, but nonetheless very friendly. She bought herself a waffle and ate it on the way.

The police man from yesterday greeted her. "We just called Joe. He should be coming over with your car in no time."

This left Nicole pretty much free to think about things that she should be thinking about: how she would repair her car. Because, for the love of god, there's no way she could patch that thing back together. She did have enough money in her bank account to buy a new one, but then she didn't have enough for a home or other necessity.

Well, she could sell her car as scrap metal , but really, that wouldn't do much.

But she could try. She had always done that and since giving up had never been her thing, why start now?

So, she spent the remaining time googling Purgatory, finding out about the legend of Wyatt Earp, the fact that the local high school had won the hockey cup once in their whole existence.

Then she sighed. So, she was trapped in this town for at least another week . So what? She'd make the best of it. Maybe she could help the police for that time. They could probably also use some help, according to the leaflet over there, they were understaffed anyways.

Nicole was just about to pitch the idea to the officer sitting at his desk, when someone burst in through the door. Her car had arrived.

Only one look at her old friend was enough to make it clear to her that it would never drive again. It had done its best but now the retirement had forced itself upon the vehicle.

"I don't want to be mean miss, but I don't think this car is gonna drive again.", the officer pointed out what everyone around them could clearly see.

"I know.", Nicole answered, understanding that the car had been defeated. "Thank you though." At least she knew for certain now."Do you think someone would want to buy it and use the parts?"

"Maybe the guys at the trailer park would want them. But I wouldn't risk it if I were you."

Nicole raised an eyebrow. These must be one hell of a bunch to scare that police officer like that. He did seem tough. "Will you come with me please. I'll print out posters for you if you want."

She accepted his offer gratefully and they made their way back inside.

With posters in one hand and tesa in another, she made her way through Purgatory.

\---

It was freezing outside. Literary so to speak. Wrapped in at least 4 layers of clothing, Waverly Earp started to make her way to her aunt's house. Uncle Curtis wasn't well and it seemed like her aunt needed all the help she could get.

Champ had offered to drive her, but she had refused. It wasn't that far. What she hadn't said was that she also needed time to think. The redhead had been on her head ever since the last day. At first she had played it of as thinking about a way to help her, and while that certainly wasn't wrong, it didn't cover the entire picture. There was something else. And spending time with Champ wasn't necessarily the best way of finding out.

She shook her head to get the thoughts about the Redhead out of her head, then focused on her task ahead. Uncle Curtis's health had been steadily declining, and even though he had been better in the last few days, it was clear he didn't have much time left. She didn't want to lose him.

He had been her father figure ever since... yeah. Nope. Let's not think about the day her oldest sister vanished and her other older sister killed her father. Ward, her father, hadn't been much of one to her anyways, but she was left alone . When the last sister she had left also ran away from Purgatory, her mother's sister and her husband had been the only ones left. 

Unaware of what the brunette was thinking about, Nicole made her way towards her. This was mere coincidence though, since she was also occupied by her own thoughts. They only noticed the body that was occupying the space they were headed in, when they bumped into each other.

Both went to apologising, when they also stopped at the same time. Well, that was awkward.

"Didn't think I would be seeing you here", Nicole said, being the first to catch herself.Waverly nodded, suddenly feeling breathless. Then noticed, that wasn't a real answerfor ehat was said before."I'm sorry I bumped into you."

This wasn't more of an answer, but it least made sense under the circumstances.

"Me too. I was thinking about something else. Are you okay?"

"Yup."Waverly maybe said that a little too fast."Where are you headed?", She added.

"Going around town. I wanted to go to Shorty's next. I wanna sell my wreck of a car, get a new one, you know."

Something in Waverly's stomach rose and then dropped."I'm headed somewhere else."

Waverly didn't want to say anything more and Nicole didn't push."I'll see you around?", Waverly asked, when Nicole agreed, she continued her walk towards her home, while Nicole went to Shorty's. Both very unsure of what to think of that conversation.


	4. The Gibsons

Gus Gibson sat on the bed near her husband. They had been through a lot together... her sister, the young Earps and then this illness. It really started to take a toll on them. She knew she had to let him go soon. For his sake and hers. But she couldn't yet.

Curtis lifted his head ever so slightly, smiling at her even though his eyes were glazed. She was about to fall apart, when someone rang the bell.

"It's Waverly. I'll get the door."

Gus knew that Curtis knew that she felt miserable. That him being ill also tore her down. He felt terrible for that, but there was nothing to do. He tried his best to get better but his best didn't seem to be good enough.

"Hi Gus!"

Waverly fell into the arms of her aunt.

"I brought myself", she pointed at the mentioned person, "And the will to help."

They grinned at each other. It hadn't been long since Waverly had last been over, but a lot had happened in between. Gus certainly looked older, if only for the exhaustion plain on her face. Waverly, before really eager to tell Gus about her life, started questioning if that was the best idea. Her aunt already had so much to deal with, she couldn't bother her with anything heavy.

"You can sit down first", Gus answered and went into the kitchen with Waverly on her heels. "what do you want? Tea, Hot chocolate, something else?"

"I can make myself my own drink Gus. The way you are, you probably have been working the whole day. Now I'm here. You sit down. I'll make the two of us something."

Gus was surprised by her own exhaustion as she sat down without any argument and watched her niece work in the kitchen.

Waverly was a bright student and had graduated top of her class in Purgatory High.

Gus had always wondered, why she had never left. She didn't belong in this small town with no future. Waverly could make it high if she left. But the youngest Earp had always been too obsessed with the family curse. Her whole life was centred around it. And Gus could do nothing to get her to leave. She wouldn't take her money for travel, only took Curtis' to fund online classes for old languages and other things that would help her figure out the family legacy. Gus had given up a while ago. Waverly wouldn't change her mind and that was that. And Curtis had always been way too supportive of her stubbornness to begin with.

\--

Shorty's was relatively empty during the morning hours. Nicole didn't care though, because she was on a mission to find the owner, Shorty. There was an older looking man behind the counter, so Nicole decided to give it a shot.

"Hi, how can I help you?", he asked, smiling at the redhead who mustered him. He seemed like a person to own a bar.

"Yeah, hi, I'm Nicole Haught. I want to sell my car in parts and was wondering if I could put a poster on the wall somewhere? Shorty's seems to be the place where everyone goes to."

He took her hand and shook it: "We should still have some space on our wall for those kinds of things. It's by the entrance. Come with me"

Nicole followed the friendly owner on his way to a wall that was infront of the toilets.

"You can hang your poster here."

He saw the questioning look on her eyes and added: "Don't worry. People will see it."

Then he vanished again and Nicole was left alone. She had a brief glance at the wall full of offers. Someone wanted to sell their house, another said that they would teach riding lessons, and so forth. Sadly nobody wanted to sell a car or buy a broken one.

\--

"How are you Uncle Curtis?", Waverly asked while filling up a glass of water and adding medicine to it.

He didn't look well, but he nonetheless responded with:" I'm alright. Don't you worry about me."

Curtis had been bound to bed for a while. His wife had to take care of him together with Waverly.

"Here, drink this. And remember to stay hydrated" she recited what the doctor had said about how important water was right now.

Her uncle did what he was told and then asked:"What about Champ? Did you bring him with you?"

"No, sorry Uncle Curtis he was busy today and couldn't come with. I'll ask him to join next time."

Her hand lingered on his arm, squeezed it a little, and then she went back into the kitchen to Gus.

They sat in silence for a while.

Gus broke the comfortable quiet:"So, how has your day been?"

Waverly sighed, not exactly knowing where to start.

"A lot", she spoke truthfully,"There was this woman whose car broke down outside of Purgatory and I invited her to sleep over at mine and Champ's place, since she needed somewhere to crash. She's probably going to stay for a little longer. I don't want to send her to the hotel, it's kind of spooky. And then I went here, going to take care of you two."

"You know...", Gus voiced her thoughts,"You always say I work too much, but when do you ever get a rest?"

She let that sit for a while, then added:"You don't always have to be so nice to others, why not be nice to yourself too? Maybe give yourself some time to relax for a change."

"It's not that easy...", Waverly began to argue, but was interrupted by her Aunt

"Yes. Yes it is. Just sit down and don't allow people to stomp all over you. Maybe go out of town, take a vacaction." She could already see Waves' answer to this.

"So, all I'm asking is to think about it.", she added to keep her from interrupting,"And while I'm on it, why are you still with this douchebag? You deserve better Waverly."

Both women seemed exhausted by this conversation, Waverly was speechless. They had talked about this often. Both her relationship with Champ and the possibility of her leaving this town. It was part of the reason she didn't like to visit often. It always ended in both of them getting angry at each other.

She stood up and made her way to the front of the house, wanting to go outside and get away from it all. She didn't want to fight with her aunt. Not again.

"I'll go sit outside for a bit, okay?", she asked, while already being through the door, making her way to the well in front of the house.

Meanwhile Gus left the room as well, going to her husband, who was already ready to comfort her, knowing this situation all too well.

Waverly wanted to be alone, but not completely. She clutched the warm drink in her freezing hands and sipped a bit of the hot liquid.

The cold wind brushed through her hair, and caused a smile to appear on her face. Everything seemed unchanged here, as if she just travelled in time to herself from a few years ago, where these fights hadn't been occurring and Waverly was just herself, no confusing redheads.

She decided to call Champ, asking him to take her back to their home. She needed a distraction.

\--

Meanwhile, as the sun started to set, Nicole thought she ought to start going to Shorty's again. After having placed all of her posters somewhere around the village, she had decided to hike a bit in the mountains surrounding this place. She had always been someone for outdoor sports, actually a negative she had reluctantly accepted for Banff, it was too city-like with not many mountains. But that didn't matter now anyways. What she now needed was a bed. And a talk with the way too nice bartender to offer her some of her rent. Nicole really didn't like to use Waverly, she at least had to pay her something back.

When she entered the bar, it was full, but no Waverly was to be seen. She could spot Shorty though and decided to go to him and ask for the brunette's whereabouts. They had never actually agreed on a place to meet, not on a time either, so if she was still out Nicole had decided she would wait here.

"Waverly isn't here", Shorty answered, confusion clear in his voice, "why do you ask?"

"She invited me to sleep over at her place", Nicole answered, gesturing to her bag she had taken out of the car after her hike. She was understanding of the old man's protectiveness. You didn't want to let a possibly dangerous stranger into someone's place.

"Okay... Wait here, I'll let her know. Could take a while though, Champ is home with her." He signaled another waitress that he'd be gone for a moment and went to turn, suddenly reminded of something. "Champ is her boyfriend. Don't know if you knew."

Then he made his way through the masses of people to vanish up the stairs.

Nicole decided she could at least order a drink while she waited.


	5. 4: New Quarters

Meanwhile, Waverly and Champ were distracted, just as Shorty expected. They were kissing each other, Champ with passion, but Waverly was not feeling it tonight. She wasn’t sure why, this had helped her get her mind of other things, but today it didn’t work no matter with what intensity she tried to force it to.

When Shorty knocked, she was relieved but tried not to show it. The interruption had moved them apart a bit, but as Champ started to get to work on her neck again, she stopped him.

“Maybe it’s important.”

“It can’t be as important as this”, he countered but when he tried to continue Waverly was already out of the room.

She put her shirt back on, as well as her boots and one of Champ’s jackets and went down the stairs into the main room of Shorty’s.

It was packed to the brim. Shorty’s was never really empty but tonight was filled with more people than usual. Squeezing herself through a particularly tight bunch while repeating “excuse me” and “may I?”, she successfully made her way to the bar. Only then could she see that Shorty, whom she had suspected to be the mysterious knocker, was talking to the redhead she had invited to sleep over.

Before she could signal to Shorty that she had to collect herself before starting this conversation, he already told the ginger that she was behind her. Waverly realised she needed to tell Champ of their new roommate. And he wouldn’t like it one bit.

“Hey”, Nicole’s voice, raised a bit but otherwise not shouting, reached her through the booming noise of the hall. “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.”

“No it’s alright. You actually came at the perfect moment.” Waverly fumbled with her shirt, tugging it to fix what she messed up by having put it on in a rush, hopefully her hair didn’t show the makeout session.

“Did you bring your stuff?”, she asked, then stupidly nodded when she realised it was right beside Nicole.

“Okay.” Waverly let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding in.

‘I can do this’, she thought:’ no problem. Just have to tell Champ somehow.’

“I can show you where our apartment is if you want to?”

Nicole’s answer was calm, as if she had picked up on how stressed Waverly was:” That would be nice. I’m gonna go downstairs again afterwards though, Shorty wanted to tell me a bit about this place.”

Whether Shorty had really offered to tell her about purgatory or Nicole had just sensed the need for her to be away first, Waverly didn’t know, but she was grateful nonetheless.

The redhead was standing next to her, suitcase in her arms, and together they squeezed through the masses, Nicole following Waverly.

As they were walking up the stairs, Waverly already began crafting her explanations in her head. Champ was sweet, the best she could get in a town where everyone knew each other. He was always there to help her aunt and uncle, he just had problems with people interrupting their alone time, which Nicole was doing by being present in their apartment. She should have thought before inviting Nicole over, maybe talked it through with Champ, maybe not even offer at all.

But Waverly couldn’t help being kind, it flowed through her veins whether she wanted it or not. And maybe, just maybe, this act of kindness hadn’t only been directed at Nicole.

\--

The walk up the stairs had been silent, as the brunette’s mind had already started drifting on their way through what must’ve been at least half the population of Purgatory and Nicole didn’t want to interrupt. It was a comfortable silence, at least for her.

After their walk to the first story of the building, Waverly had led her to the right, to a light-brown wooden door. The way was familiar, since she had already been here before, but now she was properly invited, though the way Waverly had talked about her boyfriend, Nicole wasn’t so sure whether everyone had agreed to her residency.

“This is the place”, Waverly stated, coming to a halt, a few steps in front of the door, not making any motions towards opening it.

“Thank you for offering, again. I’ll see you later then?” Nicole waited for Waverly to nod and gave her a little time to disagree, then waved and turned around, making her way back down the poorly lit stairs into the drinking masses of Purgatory. Waverly watched her go, her little shiver still freshly in Nicole’s ear.

It had been getting colder, she had to admit, though the bodies she was squeezing herself through definitely warmed her, even if it was in a rather unwelcome way. Nicole liked to have her space.

A different bartender greeted her and she ordered a glass of water, wanting to keep her head clear, especially when having to later enter Waverly’s and Champ’s place. She didn’t like his name, it made him sound arrogant. But it’s a stupid thing to judge someone for their name, the thing that most people don’t choose themselves. So she decided to push through her dislike of the man before even having a chance to meet him. She had met some of her best friends in the city by pushing away her prejudice against names that usually represented giant a-holes in television. After meeting him, she would be able to tune into her gut, knowing that her police training had helped her develop it into a machine that never failed. Trusting her instincts had saved her from some very tight situations.

Her glass was set in front of her, just not by the man she had ordered it from but by Shorty, who smiled at her:” Already back?”

“I wanted to give her some space before basically moving into it. And I was curious about some stories about Purgatory”, She moved the glass of water closer to herself, indicating that she appreciated the drink.

“She will probably appreciate it.” He paused, both in speech and movement as if to add something, but then continued on a different path: “You wanted to hear stories about Purgatory?”

“Yes.” Her straight forward answer was followed by an inner debate on whether she should add a comment about the current volume in the bar, but then decided otherwise. Shorty would probably know that she didn’t expect him to tell her any right now.

“I can tell you some tomorrow, right now is probably not the time.” Another pause “Why are you driving through the ghost river triangle anyways? You don’t look like a Wyatt Earp fan.”

“I was driving to Banff. I was going to be a Police officer there. But my car broke down, so here I am…”

“Well, this town has a way of catching outsiders. We once had a few hundred people accidentally arrive here because their Navi led them to this place. Weird stuff like this is normal around here. You arriving might not be accidental either. Whatever it is, I wish you good luck in selling the car bits.”

Nicole let Shorty excuse himself after this and continued her drink. A few hundred people being misled by their Navi really is not a usual occurrence, especially not when the redirection was to the same space.

\---

Meanwhile, Waverly had entered her apartment with Nicole’s suitcase. She leaned it against the wall and walked back towards the living room and kitchen, where Champ sat.

“Are you okay babe, you look worried?”, he answered immediately, picking up on her emotions.

“Not really, well, sort of. I kind of invited someone to move in for the next week…” Her voice dwindled throughout the sentence, like her confidence, going from high to low within a few seconds.

Deciding to tackle the issue head first sounded like a good choice in the beginning, since her guest kind of waited downstairs, but by the end Waverly wasn’t so sure anymore.

She watched Champ. He seemed to be in thought, which normally didn’t last very long for him, but it turned out to be a rather longer pause.

Maybe he was angry, or pissed, which he had the right to be because she didn’t tell him before. He was initially only going to stay here tonight.

Finally, he decided to speak: “That means you won’t be coming over tomorrow night?”

It took a lot of strength to keep Waverly from facepalming herself. She had totally forgotten the plans they had made for the week.

The idea was for Waverly to stay over at Champ’s so they could drive to the Gibson’s home together and help her aunt with both home and farm chores so she could rest for the day. Now, with a stranger in her home, she would have to stay there.

“We will still spend the day at my aunt’s, she needs all the help she can get, but I’m going to stay here for the night.” She tried to sound apologetic, hoping that he’d notice.

Champ stood up: “I guess I’ll be going then? I’ll pick you up when we go to Gus and Curtis?”

“I guess so.” Champ went out the door, leaving Waverly to search for his emotions in his monotone voice.

\---

Nicole saw him come down the stairs. She had been talking to the police officer who had helped her with the car. The conversation was shaky, since they didn’t know each other well, but he had told her about the police department here, including their lack of personnel, and had offered to speak with the Sheriff about letting her work there for the few days she was stuck here.

She told him she’d take it. She didn’t like sitting still, waiting for something to happen. It’d be useful training for Banff and if Sheriff Nedley was nice she’d maybe also get some money for it.

She prolonged the smalltalk for a bit longer and then excused herself, planning to go upstairs and meet Waverly. It was already pretty late and she wanted to be ready for a possible call tomorrow, whether it was from the police officers, or potential buyers of metal scrap.

When she knocked on the door she was very quickly greeted by an unprepared Waverly, who showed her through the small apartment and directed her to her new room.

The evening went quiet, for all the things they wanted to talk about, it was already too late and neither of them had the energy. Nicole then went to her room, preparing herself for the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As the title now says, I've decided to put this story on hold for now.
> 
> By writing everything without planning so far, I've accumulated a ton of logical and plot problems that I need to fix and plan out... 
> 
> I know how annoying it is if the stor you're reading just stops out of nowhere... that's why I've kept going for this chapter and possibly also the 3rd... but it's just too much now.
> 
> See you when I continue writing I guess :)  
> ~ Aly


End file.
